Steam generation



. June 23, 1931. w R, WOOD STEAM GENERATION Original Filed May 21, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l 7 June 23, 1931.

w. R. WOOD 1,811,658

STEAM GENERATION Original Filed May 21. 1928 s sheets-sheet 2 June 23, 1931. w WOQD 1,811,658

STEAM GENERATION Original Filed May 21, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ++++-r++++++i @+++1-r+++++@ +++1++i INVE 0R W avvC BY Wf-MM A TTORNE Y5 Patented. June 23, 1931' UNITED STATES PATENT/OFFICE WILFRED 3. W001), or LoNDoN, ENGLAND, .ASSIGNOR r0 N'rnaNa'rroNar. COMBUS- TION ENGINEERING con-roRA'noN, or NEW YORK, N. Y., a conrona'rroN or DELA- WARE s'rnm enNniaario Application flledlay 21, 1928, Serial 110.2,428. Renewed September 5, 1980.

This invention relates to steam generation and particularly to the generation of steam by an installation in which the combustion chamber is largely and preferably entirely defined by tubes subject to radiant heat.-

The object of the invention is to provide an installatiomofthis general nature characterized by .havin a number, and preferably all, of the f0 lowing advantages:

- A simple, strong, eii'ective and inexensive arrangement of. parts givingrelative high capacity from a relatively small size unit; the arrangement being one which may be, in general, followed in constructing boilers ranging widely in pressure.

Full utilization of the combustlon space with efficient combustion and negligible loss in unconsumed combustible matter.

Low draft loss, l ow infiltration and relatively dry steam. n

Comparative freedom from rapld clo gmg of the gas passages with ready accessi ility for cleaning, inspection andrepair, making it possible to hold the installation to uniform performance over long periods.

Ample circulation and flexibility over widely ranging rates of operation.

A relatively high degree of superheat from i a relatively smallamount of superheating surface rendering the installation capable of the development of high superheat compared to present practice,-with high boiler pressures.

I obtain the foregoing, together with such other obj ects-and advantages as may hereinafter appear, or are incident to my invention, by means of a construction which I have illustrated in the preferred form in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a unit embodying my invention.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are fra entary views illustrating modifications o the invention.

Referring now particularly to 1 and 2, it will be seen that I provide a mam upper drum 7 and a lower drum 8 connected by a ,vertical bank of tubes 9, in front of which is the combustion chamber A.

ed. at their lower ends to the mud drum 8 and at their upper ends to the drum 7. The

drum 8 bein smaller than the drum 7, every alternate tu e of the row of tubes 10 extends downward beyond the adjacent tubes,

' as indicated at 11, for connection to the drum 8 at a lower point, giving am le ligaments. The tubes 10 have longitudinailly extending fins 12 extending from adjacent'the drum 8 oint short ofthe drum 7. The tubes and ns cooperate to form a metallic wall for the rear of the combustion space. This wall is spaced awayfrom the front row of tubes of the bank of tubes 9, whichrow is provided with a bafile 13 extending from the mud drum 8 upwardly to a point short of the drum 7. In the space thus provided soot blower ipes 14 are located for blowing the bank of tubes 9. While, in the drawings these blow-01f pipes are shown as being space some distance from the baflle 13 for convenience of illustration, it is to, be understood that they are preferably much more closely spaced so as to. in effect, block-ofl the openings in the baflie '13 through which thenozzles 15 project. Relatively little leakage will bank of tubes 9.

thus occur through the rear wall 10 and the baflie 13 from the combustion space into the The bottom of the combustion space is defined by a row of tubes 16, which tubes incline upwardly and forwardly from the mud drum 8 to the small drum or header 17. These tubes are spaced sufiiciently widely apart to a permit of gravitating ash to freely pass through the spaces therebetween into the ash blocks or headers 20, the headers 17 and 20 being protected by refractory material'21 and V 22 respectively.

The top of the combustion space is defined by rows of tubes connecting the headers 20 with the drum 7. The tubes of each row are given an ogee curve at their rear and upper ends for reasons which will appear hereinafter. The lower row of tubes 23 have their rear endportions passed through the spaces between the tubes 10 at a point where the fins 12 thereof terminate (see particularly Fig. 4). The middle row 24 of these tubes and the top row 25 bend upwardly in advance of the tubes 10 and connect to the drum 7 at points above the point of connection of the tubes 10 therewith. The row of tubes 25 is preferably larger than the other rows of.

these tubes.

Each side of the combustion space is defined by a row of finned tubes 26, the lower ends of which pass outwardly to the exterior for connection with a header 27 and the upper ends of which are connected with the header 28. The headers 27 are supplied from the mud drum'8 by a plurality of, tubes'29 bent as shown in Fig. 3. Similarly shaped tubes 30 connect the headers 28 with the drum 7.

The circulation is as follows: From the mud drum through the tubes 16 to the header 17, through the tubes 19 to the headers 20, and thence through the tubes 23, 24 and 25 to the upper drum from the mud drum through the tubes 29 to the headers 27, and thence upwardly through the two sets of tubes 26 to the headers 28 and from thence through the tubes 30 to the upper drum 2?; from the mud drum upwardly through the tubes 10 to the upper drum; from the upper drum to the lower drum through the bank of tubes 9. Thus, there is an upward circulation through all radiant heat tubes and a downward circulation through the convection bank of tubes 9, although, under certain conditions of operation, certain of the tubes of'the bank of tubes 9 ma have an upfiow therein.

The fuel, prefera ly in finely divided form, as, for example, in the form of pulverized coal, is introduced into the lower part of the combustion s ace at the corners by burners 31, prefera ly arranged to direct the fuel streams tangent to a circle as indicated by the dot and dash lines in. Fig. 3. Combustion air is led to the boxes 32 on opposite sides of the burners 31 by means of the conduits 33 leading from the air heater 34 located in the ofitake 35. This combustion air is highly preheated. Owing to this manner of fuel and air admission, a vortical fuel and flame stream is produced with turbulent and intense combustion, giving a high furnace temperature head and securing a high rate of heat transfer through the tubes defining the combustion space. The full combustion space is utilized and combustion is efficiently co mpleted before the tubes 23, 24 and 25 are reached, so that there is no substantial loss by virtue of combustible matter leaving the top of the combustion space. The updraft through the combustion space is counteracted by gravityso that the heavier particles of fuel remain sufiiciently long in the combustion space to be consumed. Atthe same time the updraft prevents the gravitation of any appreciable quantity of combustible matter into the ash pit.

The gases passing over the tubes 23, 24 and 25 enter the space between such tubes and the tubes 30, this space being provided b virtue of the fact that the tubes 23, 24 an 25 for the greater portion of their len h extend in a plane Well below the plane 0 the drum 7. In this space I locate the superheater 36 and the gases passing over the tubes 23, 24 and 25 are caused to pass over the tubes of the superheater by virtue of the bafile 37, this battle being preferably composed of tiles carried on the tubes 23, 24 and 25, as shown. Tiles may be added to or taken from the bafiie to cause a greater or shorter length of the superheater tubes to be effectively subjected to the gases, thus securing regulation of the degree of superheat. It is to be noted also that the superheater is located in advance of the convection bank 9 so that the superheater is subjected to high temperatured gases, the temperature of which is determined by the relatively small number of tubes comprising the rows of tubes 23,24 and 25. The superheater being thus subjected to high temperatured gases, I am enabled to secure a relatively high degree of superheat from a relatively small superheater.

After passmg over the superheater tubes, the gases pass over the tubes 25, 24, 10 and 23 in the order named, and thence into the convection bank, the space between the baffle 13 and the bafiie 37 being bridged by the bafile 38. The flow of gases is down amon t the tubes of the bank 9 to the ofi'take 35, t e sheathing 39 at the back of the bank serving as a bafile cooperating with the bafile 13 to give a single pass through the bank.

It willbe seen that the arran ement is such that no gas passage is restricte as would be the case, for example, were the tubes of the superheater nested amongst the tubes of the convection bank. Hence, the liability of bird nesting is reduced and, at the same time, the tubes 23, 24 and 25, the superheater tubes and the bank of tubes 9 can be readily cleaned. The are also readily accessible for inspection an repair.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that draft loss is low, as is the amount of infiltration that can take place. In this connection it is understood that the to sides and front of the unit are encased y suitable sheathing 40.

While the arrangement described is one which gives a large space for the superheater 36, it is also to be noted that ample ligaments are provided between all tubes connected into the drum 7. The foregoing is brought about by bending the tubes 23, 24 and 25 as described.

In view of the fact that the circulation through the radiant heat 'tubeswill be very rapid, tending to produce turbulence in the drum 7, I provide a steam drum-41 thereabove, from which the steam is led to the superheater by the pipe 42. Connections 43 between the drum 7 and the drum 41 are provided in suflicient number and size to give low velocit of the steam passing from.

the drum 7 to t e drum 41.

Feed water is supplied to the drum? by.

means of the feed water connection 44 indicated in dotted lines. .The feed water connections may be located at any suitable point.

Ample circulation is secured without necessarily providing-special downcomers, because there is a difference in pressure as betweenthe drum 7 and the. drum 8, and there is less weight of water and steam in the radiant heat tubes than there is weight of water in the convection bank .9.

The relation of radiant heat tubes and convection tubes is preferably such that at least half of the heat is absorbed by the radiant heat tubes.

7 If desired, a baffle 45 may be interposed between the next to the last rows oftubes of the .convection bank, and bafii-es 46 may insulate theend rows of tubes of the convection bank, as indicated in Fig. 3, to shield :such tubes from high heat. The end rows of tubes 47 of the bank-may also be made larger than, the remainin tubes of the convection bank, as shown in ig. 3. This arrangement makes the 'shielded tubes more effective as downcomers.

In addition to or substitution for the adjustability for different degrees of superheat herein described, the baffle 38 may be pivoted as indicated at 38 in Fig. 5. By opening this bathe more or less of thegases may be shortcircuited.

Individual headers 20 may, be provided 'for the tubes 19 in theLmanner shown in Figs. 6 and 7 Insofar as the tubes 16, 19 and 23, 24 and 25 are concerned, it will be seen that there are more tubes 19 than there are tubes 16, and that the tubes 23, 24 and25 are greater in number than thetubes 19. This rovides rapid circulation. In this connection it is also to be noted that the tubes 25 are preferably made of greater size than'the tubes The size and number of the tubes 29 and the ing in this latter connection. The gases,

while leaving the top of the combustion space proper at relatively high temperatures, have a large amount'of heat absorbed therefrom before they enter the single pass of the convection bank. The convection bank presents suflicient surface ,to lower the temperature of the gases to a point where suflicient heat may be abstracted therefrom in a commercially practical metallic air heater to reduce the .finaL-exit temperatures of the gases to an allowable value from the standpoint of economical operation. The heat abstracted by the'air heater is returned into the combustion chamber with the combustion .air to assist in securing eflicient combustion ofthe character herein described.

It should be noted that the tubes 30, as well as the upper portions of the side wall tubes, abstract heat from the gases passing the tubes 23, 24 and 25 from the combustion space before the gases enter the convection bank.

I claim:

1. In combination, an upper and a lower drum, a bank of convection heat tubes connecting the same, a combustion chamber in front of the bank, a row of upright radiant heat tubes on each upright wall of the chamber, substantially horizontally disposed tubes connecting the upper ends of one of said rows with the upper drum and arranged below the top of the chamber to provide a space, a superheater in said space, and a bafiie in the bank arranged so as to provide communication between said space and the bank, and communication between the said space and the combustion chamber proper be ing through spaces between said horizontal tubes.

2. In combination, an upper and a lower drum, a bank of convection heat tubes connecting'the same, a combustionchamber in front of the bank, a row of uprlght radiant heat tubes on each upright wall of the chamber, substantiall y horizontally disposed tubes connecting the upper ends of one of said rows. with the upper drum and arranged below the top of the chamber to provide as ace, a superheater in said space, and a be e in the bank arranged so as to provide communication between said space and the'bank, and communication between the said space and combustion chamber proper being through spaces between said horizontal tubes, together with means for admitting finely divided fuel into the lower part of the chamber. I

3. In combination, an upper and a lower drum, a bank of convection heat tubes conmeeting the same, a combustion chamber in front of the bank, a row of u ri ht radiant heat tubes on each upright wa 0 the chamber, substantially horizontally disposed tubes connecting the upper ends of one of said rows with the upper drum and arranged below the top of the chamber to provide a space, a superheater in said space, and a baffle in the bank arranged so as to provide communication between said space and the bank, and communication between the said space and the combustion chamber proper being through spaces between said horizontal tubes, the inner ends of the horizontal tubes being bent upwardly whereby the gases leaving said space are caused to pass thereover prior to entering the bank.

4. Invcombination, an upper and a lower drum, a bank of convection heat tubes connecting the same, a combustion chamber in front of the bank, a row of upright radiant heat tubes on each upright wall of the chamber, substantially horizontally disposed 'tubes connecting the upper ends of one of said rows with the upper drum and arranged below the top of the chamber to provide a space, a superheater in said space, and a baffle in the bank arranged so as to provide communication between said space and the bank, and communication between the said space and the combustion chamber proper being through spaces between said horizontal tubes, and a steam drum located above the upper drum and communicating therewith.

5. In combination, an upper and a lower drum, tubes connecting the same, a combustion chamber in front of the said tubes, a row of upright radiant heat tubes on each upright wall of the chamber, substantially horizontally disposed tubes connecting the 11 per ends of one of said rows with the upper rum and arranged below the top of the chamber to provide a space, a superheater in said space, communication between the said space and the combustion chamber proper being thru spaces between said horizontal tubes, and sald space being largely defined by tubes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

WILFRED R. WOOD. 

